Yeah, you can't get any visibility without votes, but you can't get votes without visibility. Obviously, the company line is you have to invest to power up, get a delegation, etc. I've also heard you had to produce qualify content, and that would certainly help, but judging by the trending page, it doesn't ALWAYS appear to be a requirement.
Seriously, you can get some traction without that by engaging with communities and promoting your work, but it's very tough because it takes a lot of skill, improvement, and endurance. That's why there are so many inactive users.
Anyway, I just throw a bit out here and there and hope that in a year or two the ship's still floating, and my account will be worth more. It's no get-quick-rich platform unless you enter into it funded with either money or a large base of followers.
This isn't necessarily a total criticism. My daddy always used to warn me that the world did not revolve around me. I'm just saying that people need to have the right expectations.
Beautifully said. I am in that slow riding boat. I can see the trend that people who have a good following from youtube can make it good on steemit. Hence why Im gonna start doing more parody skits on youtube in the long run in hopes of building a fan base. Its gonna take a lot of work and time. I will do it for fun or else I will feel burnt out when I see no quick progress. It should not be a get rich quick gimmick, here on steemit or on youtube.